Most overrated and underrated generals of all time?

Question

What is in your opinion the general who has received the most praises he really didn't deserve and who do you admire and think nobody talks about when he should be considered with the likes of Caesar, Alexander or Napoleon.

10 points to the best explanation that is not a repetition of Wikipedia. Tell me what you think and why.

For example, I think General Montgomery is the most overrated general of all time. His operations were not brilliant, although he was competent, just not to the level of a Patton or a Von Manstein.

IMHO, the most underrated general is Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, who beat the carthaginians in the Second Punic War, conquered Spain and Northern Africa for Rome and defeated Hannibal in straight combat. It is said that Hannibal even put him a level above the 3 great "generals" of antiquity: Alexander, Pirrus, and Hannibal.

Billy- Loved the Custer-Nebraska comparison. I know the consensus nowaday is that he was a moron, but he probably was a hero back in his days. Would you think Lee is really underrated? I feel that most people would agree the best generals of the CW are Lee, Sherman, and Jackson. And of the 3, Lee was the most highly regarded

Answer 1

Most over-rated -

Montgomery - he had time & resources on his hands as compared to his main opponent in North Africa, Rommel. If Rommel had the manpower & resources, his audacity & decisiveness would have over-whelmed Monty's over-cautiousness & lack of speed of execution.

Charles De Gaulle - mostly a pompous personilty who never fails to get on Ike's nerves. He demanded a lot of things when he's not in the position to make demands. He was known among the allied commanders to follow close behind the front troops in France so that when Paris was liberated, he could immediately place himself as the head of state of France.

George Armstrong Custer - the debacle at Little Big Horn is not due to lack of manpower or reinforcements. In fact, Custer was to wait for other units to arrive & form up before commencing attack on the Red Indians. He started without waiting for the others to arrive - mainly to get the glory of defeating the opponents by himself.

Most under-rated -

Heinz Guderian - he was the brainchild behind Germany's combined arms warfare & blitzkrieg. He subsequently resigned from his commission after falling out with Hitler over strategies & tactics & was later recalled to be head of OKH (ober-Kommando Heere) or Army High Command where his hands were mostly tied due to Hitler's persistent interference.

von Luttow Vorbeck (Colonel)- He held the British at bay & evaded capture & defeat throughout WW 1 in southern Africa even when the Brits had superior resources & manpower. In fact, he only laid down his arms when the Armistice was declared.

Answer 2

The question implies that "general perception" is the criteria - in that case, the super- highly rated Napoleon has to be overrated. While he showed an occasional flash of strategic and tactical brilliance, he also heavily depended on the size of the mass armies a new social order handed to him, and sometimes used those armies rather badly. Underrated: lots of generally unknown greats, (including the Subadi mentioned in an answer below, Belisarius who did the most with the least time and again, Hericulus; 7th C. Arab al-Walid and the Korean Admiral Yi are highly rated if know but are mostly unknown and so get little respect)....I'll pick a well known one who is widely trashed as a military mind and thus underrated: A. Hitler. True, he was erratic during hte 2nd half of the war, but he and his crazy intuitions would have won the war if not for an incredibly heroic and unlikely effort by the Soviets.

Answer 3

Most Overrated: George Armstrong Custer

He generaled a lot like Nebraska played football in the '80's. He ran over weak opponents, then finally lined up against someone good and got his a$$ handed to him.

Most Underrated: Underrated: Robert E. Lee

He was Lincoln's first choice to lead the Union, but Lee went with Virginia. Give him the same resources as the Union and the US Civil War would have looked very different.

Answer 4

I would put Lee in the overrated category. Without generals like TJ and Longstreet, he would not have had the early victoriess such as Chanclorsville. He tactical failings were exposed at Gettysburg. TJ, if he was alive, would've taken the high ground behind Gettysburg on the first day. How can you justify sending 15,000 men across open field of fire against mass artillery?

Lee's genius' was his strategical thinking, but on the tactical level, he blundered. He did have the love and admiration of his men tho, for that we was a great general.


Underrated, i would consider Scipio also, but my pick is Paul Hausser, as he led the II SS Panzer Corp at the 3rd Battle of Kharkov. His tactical genius beat back a Red Army force 7 times his size.... Because he was on a losing side, many don't look to his generalship as being great.

Answer 5

I think you know your history well.
Most overrated General is General Douglas McArthur. He lost the U.S. army in the Philliphines due to not properly defending the island. Infact in only a short time the Japanese surrounded or cornered his forces. Further more he abanded then by leaving and someone else had to surrender. His campains of island hopping success was due to Japanese defeat of navel power and overwhelming forces when landing. Further more as soon as the atom bomb became of age he was quick to throw it into every plan he had. Invading Japan 1945 and Korea 1950 plus the little known attack on China. He later publicly tried to humiliate the President and for some reason all history books state he was the savior of the Pacific.

I love your response of the most underrated general. Did you know Hannibal killed Scipio's father? But by the time those two faught Hannibal's had a different army which was filled with weak personal. Hannibal himself even offered peace before the battle which he never did before. Each great General has offered military contributions that others have added. So I will offer another great underratted general of antiquity. Adolf Hitler! With only military trianing to the position of corporal he gained political and military control over Germany in three years. Further more his use of blizcreg was at a time almost defenseless. He singlehandedly provided the plan to defeat the Poland, and France in merely a week. He came dangerously close to defeating Britian and Russia, and almost broke the Allies in the Battle of the Bulge. Though he was more of a commander in chief he did take the role of General and his accommplishments have to be admired though on very few levels. He took on the world and came closer to winning than most care to think about. All the generals you listed above had the same dreams of Hitler yet a certian ora prohibits us from thinking about them on the same level as what Hitler did in the twentyth century.

Answer 6

Good call with Scipio Africanus being the most underrated. I would agree or would say that Vandergrift from the USMC pacific WWII campaign is another good one. Ahmed Shad Masoud in Afghanistan is another.
For your overrated category, Montgomery is the popular choice. I'd go with DaGaulle maybe. Also, there are a lot of Romans. Crassus, Metellus Scipio, Scribonius Curio, etc. Political appointments didnt always mean successful commanders.

Answer 7

I think Grant was the most overrated anyone can punch a hole and keep punching as long as he is not the one doing the punching.

I agree with Southern Lass Bedford was and is the most underrated general of all times. The saying it took ten yankees to equal a southern must have been about him. I am a old man and not scare of much but I would hate to go up against him in private life let alone on the battlefield.

God Bless the You and The Southern People.

Answer 8

Montgomrey's eminence comes from the flatness of the surrounding terrain. Patton's superiority lay in his access to supplies - in fact he was not outstanding.
I'd say the most overrated was Frederick the Great. He was built up because he was a king. No supposedly great general has been thrashed so repeatedly.
Underrated has to be someone who didn't get much of a look in. Vorbeck of German East Africa is my choice.

Answer 9

Most Overrated: George Armstrong Custer.
Graduated last in his class at West Point (only graduated at all because of the war). Glory hound who wanted to get his name in those papers. He was headed for Congress. He massacred Black Kettle's village in Nebraska for headlines. That backfired, but Congress brought him back for the Montana campaign. He didn't respect his enemies, didn't follow sound military tradition regarding Indian fighting, and got it in the end. Got turned into a legend by the media and his wife (the talented writer, Elizabeth Bacon Custer), but the ability wasn't there.

General Xenophon of the ancient Greeks. He turned horsemanship into a science and the use of cavalry into military strategy. His training methods are still used today.

Answer 10

The MOST overrated general was Dwight D. Eisenhower who sent over one million White Russians back to the Soviet Union to be slaughtered by Stalin and his hoods AFTER Eisenhower had promised them safety if they just laid down their arms. They did. He betrayed them just as he did the Hungarian patriots in 1953 when he ignored their pleas for help (which he promised them) as they were slaughtered by Soviet tanks.

The most underrated is probably Robert E. Lee, most likely because he ended up on the losing side of the Civil War. However, it was his genius which kept the South alive and well during most of the Civil War.

Chow!!